Postdoctoral Fellow (NIDCR)

The Salivary Disorders Unit and Sjögren’s Disease Clinic studies immune-mediated salivary disorders to provide insights into human immunology, salivary biology, and antigen discovery. We combine patient samples, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, immune-receptor profiling, cell engineering, and patient-derived organotypic cultures to identify how disease-associated T cells recognize and follow immune-to-immune and immune-to-epithelial cell interactions in situ.

Our unit combines a Sjögren’s disease clinic with a laboratory investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of salivary gland dysfunction. This setting provides a direct path from observations in patient biopsies to antigen discovery and functional experiments in human cellular systems.

Furthermore, this position builds on an existing collaborative effort leveraging TScan-II study (Haj Dezfulian et al., Cell, 2023), which identified self-antigens recognized by clonally expanded CD4⁺ T cells from patients with Sjögren’s disease and mapped their expression in affected salivary glands. Our complementary single-cell and spatial study of GZMK⁺CD8⁺ T cells (Pranzatelli, et al., Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 2025) identified selective changes in the acinar-cell compartment and investigated immune–epithelial interactions using patient-derived epithelial cells and autologous T-cell co-cultures.

To advance these efforts, this prospective fellow will define disease-associated immune responses through integrate single-cell transcriptomics, immune-receptor profiling, and spatial transcriptomics. This fellow will also work to discover antigens de novo by applying cellular engineering to identify antigens recognized by patient-derived CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T-cell receptors. Lastly, this fellow will investigate cellular interactions in situ using patient-derived organotypic cultures and test how antigen recognition shapes inflammation and epithelial dysfunction.

Candidates should have a PhD in immunology, genetics, molecular or cellular biology, computational biology, and/or a closely related field. We are specifically seeking a recent graduate or early-career postdoctoral fellow with a strong foundation in immunology, demonstrated research rigor, and an interest in investigating human disease using patient-derived cells and tissues.

Ideally, candidates will understand T-cell biology, antigen recognition/presentation, and tissue immune responses. All candidates should have the ability to formulate mechanistic hypotheses, design well-controlled studies, troubleshoot independently, and critically interpret complex data.

Strong communication, organizational, and collaborative skills, including enthusiasm for working with laboratory scientists, computational researchers, and clinicians, is a must.

We welcome candidates who bring enthusiasm and a depth in a complementary area and the motivation to develop expertise across human immunology, antigen discovery, and spatial tissue biology.

U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply. NIH welcomes foreign nationals with the exception of individuals from this list.